


dream lantern

by tzushi



Category: Runaways (Comics), Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, And by a little I mean a lot, F/F, F/M, Homophobia, leslie is a little homophobic, nothing explicit but there is swearing, pride is not evil but their parents are still assholes, the youtube au that no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-22 23:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23102341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tzushi/pseuds/tzushi
Summary: Nobody knew prior to her release of the video. It was something that she had never spoken about, something she had buried deep down inside herself in fear of how others would react. Growing up being taught that people who were like this- like her- were evil, Karolina ensured herself to never speak up about the thoughts she was having. And after years of denial, years of pretending that she was most definitely not attracted to her best friend Nico Minoru, no sir, she gave up on pretending. She was tired.orthe deanoru youtuber au nobody asked for
Relationships: Chase Stein/Gertrude Yorkes, Karolina Dean/Nico Minoru, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 87





	1. i

**Author's Note:**

> just some notes:  
> \- pride is not evil, but their parents still are very much assholes  
> \- no powers!  
> \- molly is in high school, the rest have graduated  
> \- they all share a youtube channel where they all post separate videos  
> \- the other members all live together atm, whereas karolina still lives with her parents  
> \- amy still passed away (not a key part of the plot but)
> 
> also it is 2am on a school night so i have not spell checked this. we die like men.

Karolina wasn’t expecting her video to gain so much traction. At best, her videos on their channel gained an average 100 000 views- it was a lot, of course, but comparing it to her coming out video? It seemed so minimal. Comparing her videos to the views the others got, Karolina’s tended to get the least amount of views.

Chase was always making fun and exciting videos, or videos of him experimenting and building new things. Alex would join Chase in his experimenting videos, or he would play video games or stream on Twitch. Nico would give makeup tutorials and talk about fashion, two things she was amazing at. Molly was an incredible dancer, so she would constantly cover dances, or even create her own choreography. In Gert’s videos, she would talk about her views on society and her strong beliefs.

Karolina’s videos... she didn’t have much to do. She wasn’t as funny as Chase, or as creative as Nico and Molly. She wasn’t great at playing games like Alex was, and her beliefs weren’t really as important or ground-shaking as Gert’s. She was just... Karolina. Mainly she filmed short vlogs, or she would make Q&A’s. (She very strictly avoided talking about the church her mother ran. She may have been the former poster-child for it, but that didn’t mean she believed anything that it taught).

The other five members of ‘The Runaways’- their channel name, for a pretty obvious reason- all lived together in a fairly big house in downtown Los Angeles. Their channel had just had three million subscribers, which was enough to fund their lease for the house. Karolina had received many invitations to move in with them, and she definitely planned to, but she just wasn’t sure if she was ready. She felt so locked down in her house, like she was forced to stay with her highly religious parents.

But once she released her coming out video, she felt like everything changed.

Her parents knew about her channel- it was hard to hide the fact that you were kind of famous online when you're receiving ridiculous amounts of money every so often for seemingly no reason- so of course they would see the video. And of course they would be enraged at this information. Their church didn’t exactly support relationships like this, and with her mother being one of the most religious people Karolina knew, she doubted that she would be accepted for her sexuality.

Nobody knew prior to her release of the video. It was something that she had never spoken about, something she had buried deep down inside herself in fear of how others would react. Growing up being taught that people who were like this- like _her_ \- were evil, Karolina ensured herself to never speak up about the thoughts she was having. And after years of denial, years of pretending that she was most definitely _not_ attracted to her best friend Nico Minoru, no sir, she gave up on pretending. She was tired.

So after spending three hours procrastinating filming the video, and spending another four hours editing the video, and then another two hours staring at her laptop screen as she debated posting the video, she gave in. With a sigh, she hovered her mouse over the ‘Post Video’ button and slammed down on left-click. As soon as she did that, she promptly stalked towards her bed, threw herself on it and buried herself under her sheets.

She didn't expect to fall asleep; then again, by the time she had finally posted the video, it was six in the morning. So when she was aroused from her unexpected slumber by the ping-ing of her phone notifications, only four hours after she had fallen asleep, she was a little grumpy. The texts that greeted her, however, quickly changed her mood.

**we're more famous than our parents**

**gertie:** Kar!!!!!!! oh my god!!!!!!!  
I’m so proud of you!!!!!!! i love you so much!!!!!!

**molls:** karolina holy shit youre so incredible  
i wish i was there to hug u

**gertie:** Language.

**neeks:** yeah molly watch your fucking language  
kar! o! li! na!  
perfect amazing wonderful incredible gorgeous love of my life  
i am sososososo proud of you

**stupid:** whats everyone talking about  
what did karolina do  
can you be proud of me too

**neeks** : omg the nerve of this man  
chase this is why molly changed your name to stupid.   
watch karolina’s new video 

**wilder:** KAROLINA!!!!!!!  
I’m so happy for you!   
Glad you feel comfortable enough to share it with us all <3

**stupid:** okay im watchiHOLY SHIT  
i KNEW there was a reason she rejected my kiss! nobody rejects the c-man for no reason

**molls:** gert claim ur boyfriend pls

**karrie:** thank you guys so much <3   
i’m sorry i never said anything to you and that you had to find out through a video  
and thank you all for being so supportive

**gertie:** You are absolutely not going to apologize for not coming out to us and if you do i will send my chase after you  
And don’t thank us for being decent humans

**wilding:** Love you Karrie <3

Karolina glanced away from her phone for a minute, letting out a small exhale. She had a big question on her mind, but she wasn't sure if now was a good time to ask if. She had been playing it over in her head for months- three, to be specific- but she had never built up enough courage to actually make her decision. Now, however, she realized was better than ever. With what she just did, she knew nothing was going to be the same.

**we are more famous than our parents**

**karrie:** hey guys  
i think i’ve come to a very big decision

**molls:** go on 👀

**karrie:** well i mean  
there’s no doubt my mom is going to see that video  
and i don’t think i want to live with someone who is going to hate my guts so...

**stupid:** WOOOOO  
karolina is moving into the chase base! let’s GOOO

**karrie:** if it’s actually called the chase base i am in fact not going to move in

**molls:** trust me if it was called the chase base none of us would have moved in  
we dont let chase make the decisions in this house

**neeks:** when do you plan on moving in?

**karrie:** asap i guess  
whenever you’ll have me  
i don’t have anything to pack   
and anything i will be taking can be packed within like 10 minutes

**stupid:** i am coming right now be ready

**karrie:** yessir!

* * *

True to her word, Karolina had her bags packed within under ten minutes. All of the items in her room weren’t important- everything reminded her of her church in one way or another. She could do without constant reminders of her cult-like upbringing.

Now the only problem was getting out of her house. It had been a day since her video was posted, but with the amount of views it racked up in under 24 hours, something told Karolina that her mother had to have at least heard about it. She wanted to avoid any confrontation she would have with her mother- all she wanted to do was leave without a word and never see her parents again. She was nineteen now- she could freely leave without being forced to come back.

Everything she packed up could easily fit inside a backpack and a small suitcase- her backpack mainly consisted of her electronics, while her suitcase was filled to the brim with clothes and some few irreplaceable mementos, such as the paper snowflake Amy had made and given her years ago, or the little USB that Alex had given out as party favours.

Creeping out of her room and down the hall, Karolina was not filled with as much dread and sorrow as she thought she would be. She had convinced herself that leaving this house, the place she had grown up in, would be hard for her. She was convinced she wouldn't want to leave. But now, as she walked through the hallway that led to the staircase to the main floor, she didn't feel any negative feelings. All she felt was hope. Happiness.

_"Karolina?!"_

Well, that was quite short-lived.

The voice, unmistakably her mother's, rang from the kitchen on the main floor. The kitchen that Karolina would need to pass by to get to the front door. 

_"Karolina Dean, I need to talk to you right now!"_

Karolina hadn't even realized she was frozen in the hallway until she heard her mother's second call. Cautiously, she headed down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. Maybe if she was quiet, her mother wouldn't hear her until she was out the door.

But of course that plan was foiled, because as soon as Karolina was halfway down the staircase, the step underneath her feet decided to loudly groan, alerting her mother of her presence. Immediately, her mother was out of the kitchen and waiting at the side of the steps, cellphone held horizontally in hand. When Karolina reached the bottom of the stops, the woman blocked her path.

"Care to explain the video that you posted this morning? A friend from the church texted it to me, saying it might be something I want to see," the woman question, raising her eyebrows. Her eyes shifted to the backpack on Karolina's back and the suitcase tightly gripped in her right hand. "Where are you going?"

Karolina opened her mouth to respond, but her voice died in her throat. All that came out was a small croak, her mouth remaining slack as her mind racing a mile a minute.

"Are you _leaving_?" the woman asked incredulously. "After everything this family has done for you- everything that _I've_ done for you, you're going to leave?"

"Uhmm," Karolina droned out, her vocal cords finally deciding to work, "yes?"

Her mother scoffed, eyebrows raising in surprise. "Absolutely not," she instantly stated, shaking her head side to side. She glanced down to her phone, and suddenly a sincere look entered her eyes. She stepped forwards, gently grabbing Karolina's left hand with her free one. "Honey, we can help you," she whispered out, examining her daughter's face. "I know you're scared- you're probably really confused right now, judging by this video. But come with me, let me take you to a session at the church, and we can help you. We've dealt with kids like you before, and they grew up to be completely normal."

Karolina tugged her hand out of her mother's grip as if an electric current ran between them. " _Help me_?" she repeated, eyebrows raised. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You think that- that forcing me to be someone I'm not will _help me_?"

"Karolina, you're not gay--"

"Gosh, I _knew_ I this would be a mistake, but to go this far?" Karolina asked, backpedaling as her mother took a step forward. "Are you insane? I've been hiding who I am for _years_ , scared of how you would react, but I never thought that you were this bad! You can't 'fix me', mom. This is who I am."

Leslie scoffed, hurt and anger replacing her former looks of sincerity. "This is not who you are, Karolina. This is not how I raised you. So I need you to take that video down right now and come with me to the church. Imagine the backlash this video is going to give us! The daughter of the founder of the church being like- like _that_? That's not okay, Karolina."

Karolina felt tears threatening to escape from her eyes at those words. Of course that's what it all came back to. Of _course_ that's what her mother would focus on. Not on her daughter, who's been struggling for years to find out who she is, but the church that she runs. The church that she clearly cares about more than the child that she raised.

Before Karolina could even bother to retort, a familiar honking noise sounded outside-- Chase was here. Karolina attempted to step forward, but Leslie Dean blocked her way.

"Move," Karolina softly requested, lowering her eyes to the ground. She couldn't be bothered to look her mother in the eyes. Not now, after everything the woman just said to her.

"Karolina, _please_ \--"

"Move!" Karolina shouted, wincing at the loudness of her voice. She attempted to avoid shouting as often as she could- she tried to avoid all conflict overall. She was never good under pressure, never good at raising her voice. But now, with her anger bursting at the seams, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, ready to finally cut ties between herself and the life her mother wanted for her, Karolina broke.

Leslie shuffled out of the way, watching Karolina leave in silence.

Outside of the Dean mansion, Chase was leaning against his white van, arms crossed as he waited with a smile. At the sight of Karolina, his smile grew wider- however, that only lasted a moment before he saw the look on her face.Without hesitating, Chase held his arms open. Without hesitation, the blonde girl ran over to him, throwing her arms around his shoulders. He quickly returned the hug, lifting her off of her feet for a second. After a moment, the pulled apart. Karolina felt the tears falling from her eyes.

“Hey, Kar,” Chase softly greeted, gently ruffling Karolina’s hair. “I’m so proud of you. You know that, right?”

Karolina felt a sob block her throat at his words. She wrapped her arms around the taller boy once more, burying her face into his shoulder. Chase let out a small laugh.

“Come on, Kar,” Chase smiled, rubbing her back, “Let’s get you home.”


	2. ii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sharing a house with four other people was hectic, especially when they all had such different personalities; adding another person would turn it into a living nightmare.
> 
> But, Nico thought, if it was Karolina, she would be okay with it.

Unlike Molly, Nico never had a desire to be a Youtuber. She usually hated being in the limelight, being on the receiving end of all that attention. When Amy passed away, she only felt stronger about that.

She closed herself off, pushed herself away from the other PRIDE kids, the people she considered her closest friends. She found an interest in makeup and fashion, in expressing herself by creating designs on her face and putting together eye-grabbing outfits.

At the time, she was content with living in her own bubble, focusing only on makeup and fashion; looking back on it now, Nico realizes just how much she hates even the idea of living like that again. 

Karolina is the one who pulled her out of it. Sweet, angel-like Karolina, who had the patience of a saint.

After half a year, when the rest of the PRIDE kids had given up on Nico, Karolina was the one who kept visiting her house weekly, dropping off Nico’s favourite snacks and drinks, the one who sent her reminders through text to take care of herself, and saying that Karolina would always be there to talk. 

Finally, after seven months of ignoring the world, Nico called Karolina in a moment of weakness. It was midnight, and everything was weighing down on Nico. She was at her breaking point.

Karolina comforted her, helped her calm down, reassured her that everything was okay. 

(Nico tries to ignore the warmth that spread across her body whenever she thinks about that night.)

The next day, Karolina dragged Nico to a hangout with the others at Chase’s house. That day, Nico received so much love and compassion from her friends.

That’s the day that Molly made the outlandish suggestion of starting a youtube channel.

She stated she wanted a place to post all of her dance covers- she wanted opinions of others from around the world. Upon hearing this, Chase revealed he had started an account a few months back, where he occasionally posted videos of him experimenting with things he built. He invited Molly to share it with him, since he already had a following, so it would be easier for her to get attention. 

Together, they began to post videos on their shared channel, and they were quickly raking in views. Over time, the others began to join their channel to post their own things.

Nico was the last to join. She was nervous about being in the spotlight, but after some convincing (it didn’t take that much, not when it was Karolina doing it), Nico agreed.

She enjoyed it a lot more than she thought she would. She was surprised at how excited she was to film videos, to read the comments she received from others. Only one year after they had all joined the channel, they hit one million subscribers.

The day they hit that number, Alex announced that he wanted to move out of his parents' house. He was having issues with his parents- that was no surprise, they all were- and he had reached his breaking point. He suggested that if they all put their money together, they could afford a house on the outskirts of LA and move in together.

That part didn’t take much convincing.

They all agreed the day Alex had made that suggestion- all of them, except for Karolina. 

Karolina had always been the softest out of them. She had always been the one to forgive and forget, whereas the others would hold grudges. So she stuck with her mother, even though the woman had been gaslighting her for her entire life, even though her father stood by and let it happen. She wanted to hold on to the idea of having a perfect family for just a bit longer- no one could blame her.

So with a promise to move in later in life, once Karolina had a steady hold on everything that was happening, the five teens moved into the first available house they laid eyes on- a surprisingly big house, in fact.

Nico made sure that they kept an open bedroom for Karolina, even when Chase wanted to turn it into a game room, or when Alex wanted to turn it into a big office, or when Molly insisted that they buy at least four cats and let them live in that room.

* * *

  
Words can’t describe the feelings that swarmed in Nico’s stomach when she received Karolina’s video notification. The title was so serious, and it was posted at such an early time in the morning- Karolina rarely stayed up that late, so it set alarms off in Nico’s head.

When she watched the video, she felt her heart shatter multiple times as she listened to everything that Karolina went through without Nico knowing. She had been struggling with this for years, and yet she was always there to comfort Nico in her times of need without seeking comfort herself.

But Nico had been openly bisexual for at least two years- at least to her friends and family. She was open about crushing on both guys and girls, and she definitely ensured that Karolina knew that about her. So she couldn't ignore the sinking feeling that settled in her chest when she realized that Karolina still didn't trust her enough to confide in her.

 _Her mother is intensely religious, extremely open about being homophobic_ , the rational part of Nico's brain argued, and it helped calm her just the slightest bit. She tried to ignore the dull ache in her chest for Karolina's benefit.

Still, when Karolina finally asked if she was able to move in, Nico couldn't control her excitement. Finally, they would be complete. She would be living in the perfect house with the perfect group of friends. Everything just seemed so _perfect_ \- though, she would never be caught dead admitting that to anyone.

Sharing a house with four other people was hectic, especially when they all had such different personalities; adding another person would turn it into a living nightmare.

But, Nico thought, if it was Karolina, she would be okay with it.

Chase set out to pick Karolina up only minutes after there text conversation. As soon as he headed out, Nico was rushing in to the spare bedroom to set everything up for Karolina. She made the bed with a spare set of bed sheets, hung up the pastel yellow curtains that she definitely did not buy because she thought that Karolina would love them.

And if Gert gave Nico an irritatingly smug smirk while watching the short girl rushing around the house to make everything look nice, as if she knew something that Nico didn't, Nico did not acknowledge it.

The familiar sound of the front door creaking open caught Nico off-guard, but she was quick to rush (read: basically fall) down the stairs to the main floor to greet Karolina, Molly, Gert and Alex doing the same thing.

Karolina stood in the doorway with a duffel bag slung over her shoulder, Chase holding the door open for her with a big, goofy smile on his face. Her eyes were red from crying, but the smile on her face was genuine.

The smile that spread across Molly's face was so big that it could split her head in half. She tackled Karolina with a hug, almost taking the two of them to the ground. Without waiting, Gert and Chase quickly joined. Nico and Alex shared a small look before the boy laughed and joined in.

Watching the five of them share a big hug in the front hall of the house, Nico's heart swelled. The only word she could think of was, once again:

"Perfect."

Karolina caught Nico's eyes from the center of the hug, a teasing look in her puffy eyes, and Nico felt her face flush as she realized that she spoke out loud.

"Come on, Nico," the blonde gently called, her voice gravelly, "aren't you going to join?"

And if it was anyone else, Nico would've scoffed, ignored them- in Chase's case, probably smack them- but this was Karolina. Sweet, lovely Karolina.

So she joined the group without a second thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you tell that i have no idea where i'm going with this fic? ahaha..... 
> 
> anyways! if u like runaways and u have a twitter account, or maybe if u want to suggest something for me to write or to add, then maybe follow me @6_runaways ? i am very very lonely
> 
> also! stay safe ; wash your hands and remember to self-isolate and practice social distancing!!

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! not sure when the next update will be, nor how many chapters there will be, but if you enjoyed then please stay tuned <3


End file.
